Historical Baku meeting messages peace, friendship, security

By Azernews

By Amina Nazarli

Historical trilateral meeting between the heads of Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran took place in Baku on August 8 with a major point messaging peace, friendship, security and cooperation.

The first trilateral meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was appraised in terms of encouraging cooperation in political, economic, energy, transport and other spheres.

“This is a historic event," said President Aliyev addressing the event with the participation of the three leaders. "A new cooperation format between the three countries is being created today.”

Indeed, a new format of cooperation are being created between Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran, which in the future may lead to a redistribution of the entire political and economic map of the region.

The relations between the three countries more developed in recent years and have reached the strategic partnership level, which are based on old traditions of friendship and good neighborliness, as well as equality, respect for each other's interests, and common history and culture.

It is no coincidence that the tripartite meeting and the Leadership Summit were held in Baku, which is considering a stability island in the region. Holding a trilateral summit was suggested by President Ilham Aliyev during a telephone conversation with Putin in February. And in April Baku hosted the meeting of foreign ministers of the three countries for preparations for this summit.

Further development of Russian-Azerbaijani-Iranian relations is regarded as a particular factor for the preservation of regional stability and security, the maintenance of peace and mutual understanding in the South Caucasus, and the implementation of the fundamental interests of all peoples of the region.

President Putin, addressing the event, stressed the importance of the trilateral summit of the heads, which will allow countries to coordinate actions on a wide range of issues. He said today the three regional countries are turning a new page in relations, and are giving a start to cooperation in trilateral format.

A draft declaration of the meeting included a wide range of discussions such as strengthening cooperation in various spheres of economy, energy and transport, development of transportation infrastructure, including the North-South international transportation corridor, legal status of the Caspian Sea as well as fight against terrorism and drug trafficking.

During the meeting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev touched upon Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, that remained unsolved for more than 20 years, stressing that Iran and Russia respect the territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, and both countries have repeatedly stated the resolution of the conflict within the framework of international law.

“The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on the conflict. Those resolutions demand the unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied lands. Unfortunately, these resolutions have not been fulfilled for over 20 years,” said President Aliyev.

The Caspian Sea diplomacy was another important issue that the leaders focused on. Considering the Caspian Sea as the sea of peace, friendship, security and cooperation, the parties stated the importance of the early adoption of the convention on its legal status.

“The Caspian Sea, which unites us, is our common wealth,” President Aliyev said. “The Caspian Sea is a sea of peace and cooperation and it should remain so.”

“Protection of the ecosystem of the Caspian Sea is the common task of all the littoral states. Azerbaijan makes contribution in this sphere,” added the president.

President Aliyev offered to form a reliable energy corridor that will provide energy exchanges between the three countries, and access to new markets. The priority area of cooperation in the energy sector is the implementation of projects for the exploration and development of oil and gas deposits, primarily in the Caspian region.

Russian and Iranian companies have been involved in the development of oil and gas fields in the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea for 20 years and make great investments, President Aliyev emphasized, adding that Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, for its part, is interested in participating in the work carried out in Iranian and Russian sectors of the Caspian Sea.

President Putin in turn, noted that Russia hopes the trilateral dialogue on the Caspian Sea issue will contribute to the soonest finalization of the convention on the legal status of the sea, signing and implementation of which is of interest for all the five Caspian littoral countries.

Although the heads of states did not center on economic issues in the course of the summit, the three countries’ business circles held expanded meetings to mull their cooperation.

Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan also agreed to strengthen cooperation in various spheres of energy and transport. 

The priority direction in cooperation between the three countries in energy sector is the realization of projects on exploration and development of oil and gas fields, said  Vladimir Putin.

Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan agreed to take measures on the development of transportation infrastructure, including the North-South international transportation corridor, which is meant to connect Northern Europe to South-East Asia. It will serve as a link connecting the railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia.

Moscow, Tehran and Baku voiced their intention to further contribute to the implementation of new projects on the connection of railways as a part of the development and improvement of the North-South international transportation corridor’s efficiency.

The North-South international transportation corridor project will ensure both the security and economic interests of our countries, said President Aliyev.

“Many countries will use this corridor in the future,” said the president, adding that the North-South corridor can bring great economic benefits and this route is very advantageous in terms of time of transit cargo transportation.

Presidents Ilham Aliyev, Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rouhani discussed not only the prospects of cooperation and topical issues of international politics, but also issues of security and the fight against terrorism. Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan intend to fully counteract terrorism.

President Putin noted the need to build closer cooperation in order to find solutions to problems that pose a threat, such as zones of instability, hot conflicts, growing threat of terrorism, especially by the “Islamic State” (IS, aka ISIL, ISIS or Daesh) and other terrorist organizations.

He said Russia considers it reasonable to intensify the exchange of information on the activities of international terrorist organizations. “This is needed for a more effective prevention of the transit of militants, weapons, drugs through the territories of our countries,” added Putin.

President Aliyev pointed out that risks and threats have been recently growing in the region.

“We should even more combine our efforts against the international terrorism. Indeed, the entire world should combine efforts. Only in this case, we can overcome the international terrorism,” said the president.

Azerbaijan’s principal position in the fight against terrorism remains unchanged, he said, adding that Azerbaijan, as a member of the UN Security Council, raised the main issues related to the international peace and security, and put forward the initiative of strengthening the cooperation in fighting the international terrorism in 2012-2013.

Following their trilateral meeting, Presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia signed a declaration.

After signing the declaration, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said that his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani proposed to hold the next summit of the three countries’ leaders in Iran and thanked him for the offer.

In this declaration, the parties said that they will continue the comprehensive development of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation, intensify and expand the political dialogue in various levels and on all issues of mutual interest, develop the trilateral format of cooperation in the spheres of culture, tourism and business.

Moreover, the parties will take effective measures to develop the transportation and communication infrastructure in order to expand the opportunities for passenger and cargo transportation via the North-South corridor.